Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Every set of wooden wheels has a story
to tell – make that, lots of stories to tell.From who owned it and where it’s traveled to who made it, for what
purpose, and how was it done, there is a tremendous amount of history attached
to any early horse drawn vehicle.Unfortunately, much of this provenance often goes overlooked and
unknown.It’s just the kind of mysteries
that get my full attention.After all,
some of the more noteworthy findings today will be directly related to
America’s most legendary western transportation giants.Ultimately, it’s why we do what we do;
constantly digging, searching, combing, and pouring over virtually every facet
of this subject.It’s a passion fraught
with challenges.Nonetheless, over the
last two decades, our efforts have been rewarded by the consistent uncovering
of volumes of new information.The
process has also allowed us to locate, identify, and help preserve a number of
historic and previously lost 19th century vehicles.

One of the greatest assets in our search
for America’s wheeled past is the broad scope of period sales literature in the
Wheels That Won The West® archives.With
original materials in the collection dating from the early 1800’s and extending
through the 1960’s, scouring those pages of history has helped us authenticate
countless brands.That said, the
majority of the earliest industry catalogs were created for a small number of
company representatives and, as such, there are few survivors today.It’s a shame as these elements not only offer
an authoritative view of design standards but, in many cases, they serve as the
only source from which we can learn more from a particular manufacturer.

This 1875 catalog may hold the only surviving specifications for legendary Mitchell wagons (Racine, WI) produced during this era.

Pre-Civil War catalogs profiling wagons
and coaches are particularly difficult to come by because so few builders could
afford the labor intensive costs of printing bound matter in those days.As a result, the majority of all vehicle
information prior to the Civil War is typically limited to faded and worn
business ledgers, newspapers, letters, trade journals, directories, guides,
universal print blocks, or some other mass produced work.

This 1860’s wagon maker tintype is part of an extremely scarce early business card.

As the decades passed after the War,
promotional printing became more common.In fact, by the 1880’s, larger vehicle makers were regularly engaged in
the printing of sales cards, calendars, catalogs, flyers, leaflets, and other
materials.Some pieces were still
produced strictly for dealers while others were intended for the end user.Larger 19th century firms like Milburn,
Jackson, and Studebaker worked especially hard to flood the market with
up-to-date literature.So prevalent was
this focus that Studebaker is known to have reprinted multiple versions of the
same catalog during the same year.1

1883 Studebaker Wagon Catalogs

Our commitment to locating these early
pieces has led us to countless rare discoveries – including what is likely the
earliest surviving flyer and illustration promoting the legendary Bain wagon
(1869).Our archives also house several
thick, hardcover maker catalogs including a pair from 1860 and 1862.Likewise, years ago, we happened upon a
one-of-a-kind image of a Moline wagon from 1870 (just one year after the
company started in Moline, Illinois).Other 1870’s information from Studebaker, Peter Schuttler, Mitchell,
Milburn, Jackson, and the Kansas Wagon Company top the list of primary source
literature we’ve preserved from this decade.Additional 1880’s and 1890’s pieces in the collection include the vast
majority of the most dominant wagon and western vehicle builders as well as a
host of smaller firms.Collectively and
individually, these materials have helped piece together a myriad of stories
that continue to shed light on surviving vehicles.In fact, the combined body of materials has
not only helped us outline when certain technologies and designs were being
utilized but, as I’ve already mentioned, the literature provides an invaluable
resource, helping to identify significant brands, histories, and values.

This rare business
card from an Ohio maker dates to around 1873 and includes an extremely scarce
product photo on the back.

As we continue in our search for
America’s rarest wheeled history, from time to time, we’ll share more about the
discoveries.Reinforcing this week’s
discussion on the importance of early period literature, we recently identified
the maker of an 1870’s-era spring seat as Studebaker.The seat still holds the majority of its
original paint and artistic striping.2Through extensive reviews of same-period
imagery, we’ve come to a supportable conclusion that – during this particular
timeframe – brand logos were not always included on the seats.As time progressed, maker logos became more
prevalent on seat backs.Piece by piece,
these extraordinary findings continue to shed even more light on how every part
of America’s early western vehicles were designed.Likewise, each discovery allows us to more
easily recognize and rescue valuable parts of America’s frontier past… before
they’re lost forever.

1 The Wheels That Won The West® archives include multiple Studebaker vehicle catalogs from 1883.While each book is labeled the same with most
pages being exact duplicates, there are slight color variations in the outside
cover and, when comparing the books to each other, some vehicles have been
updated, added, or eliminated.

2 In 20 years of pursuit, this
spring seat is only the second that we have identified as being built by a
specific maker during the 1870’s.Both
seats were authenticated using early Studebaker literature and available
imagery as a part of the evaluation process.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Similar to today’s automotive industry, America’s
early wagon makers spent a lot of time talking about how well their products
were received by the public.These
claims were especially hard to dispute when the larger firms openly shared the
number of vehicles they built each year.Studebaker, of South Bend, Indiana, was among the largest.Far from the traditional corner blacksmith
shop, Studebaker – and many others – were ultra-efficient, aggressive
manufacturers that quickly learned the power of marketing and a solid distribution
system.So successful was this brand that, by 1890, the company is said to have employed some 1400 workers,
turning out a new wagon every six minutes.1It’s a contention further reinforced by
company assertions that in the decade between 1897 and 1907, they built and
sold over a million vehicles.2

Winona Wagon Factory - Winona, Minnesota

﻿﻿The vast number of wood-wheeled wagons
that major manufacturers like Peter Schuttler, Studebaker, Winona, Kentucky, Weber,
Bain, Mitchell, Stoughton, Mandt, Moline, Jackson, and so many others
wholesaled can easily overshadow specific sales examples at the retail
level.Truth is, for record numbers of
these vehicles to have been built during the course of any year, they had to be
flying off of the proverbial dealer shelves.While period newspapers and other historical accounts often provide
numbers of wagons and emigrants moving west, specific details showing the
successes of product turnover at the retail level are often hard to find.

1882 Winona billheads

To that point, I recently ran across a
pair of 1882 billheads from the Winona Wagon Company that shed a mere pinhole
of light on the feverish retailing of wagons during this timeframe.Both invoices are made out to a single dealer
- Strehlow & Company in Casselton, Dakota.Posted a full seven years prior to North & South Dakota becoming
individual states, these pieces show nearly sixty wagons and gears sold to the
local dealer in less than two months’ time; all of this to a tiny population of
about 400 folks.Taken as a sampling of
an entire year, it’s quite possible that this ultra-small-town dealer could
have been responsible for at least 200 to 300 wagon/gear sales in just twelve
months.With thousands upon thousands of
local and regional trade areas throughout the U.S., these bits of information
(even for extremely localized districts) help emphasize just how lucrative
wagon sales could be.It’s a big reason
the industry was so fiercely competitive; from price wars to timber buy-outs,
patent lawsuits, and other extreme measures.Many dealers – sometimes referred to as agents – hung out a shingle for
multiple wagon brands as a way to ‘lock up’ sales and minimize interference
from other local sellers.

1882 Winona Wagon Co. letterhead

During the same year of 1882, the
fledgling Winona Wagon Company (Winona, Minnesota) was just three years
old.It was the successor to the
Rushford Wagon Company of Rushford, Minnesota.Within a few years, Winona would become a force to be reckoned with by
even the largest of vehicle builders.The firm held multiple patents while also becoming well-known for its
high quality farm, freight, military, fruit, and mountain wagons as well as
header gears and even sheep camp wagons.Today, the brand is still extremely popular with collectors and
enthusiasts.

From individual corporations to the
entire industry, the competitive focus within the world of horse drawn vehicle
builders set the stage for the automobile business in almost every
respect.Crucial lessons regarding
management of raw materials, distribution channels, manufacturing efficiencies,
advertising tactics, advancements in engineering and new product innovation,
quality practices, and other all-important drivers of brand perceptions were
opening up even more opportunity within America’s free enterprise system.From coast to coast, the business of
transportation was growing up and, ultimately, only the strongest would
survive.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Several folks have asked us, “What’s
that vehicle shown on the introductory page in Volume One of your “Borrowed Time” book?Great question.It’s a set of wheels more particularly known
to those in the northeastern part of the U.S - Specifically, the legendary
granite quarries on the islands of Vinalhaven, Maine.The vehicle is called a Galamander
(pronunciation rhymes with ‘salamander’).While the name is certainly memorable, its origins aren’t quite as
clear.Nevertheless, the design of the
giant machine made it possible for 19th century artisans and contractors to
create some of the most stylish and impressive buildings, bridges, dams, lighthouses,
monuments - even paving blocks - in major metropolitan areas like Boston, New
York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, Portland, and
countless other leading cities.As an
example, the Washington Monument in the U.S. Capitol includes stones originally
carried by these Galamanders.

Similar to the “Big Wheels” (read more about these on our website)
that were used to carry large timber out of forests, the oversized nature of
these stone-hauling behemoths is a reflection of the duties they were
engineered to tackle.Rear wheels on
these innovative wagons could measure as much as 12 feet in diameter.(As big as the Giant Moline wagon we
discussed in last week’s blog was, many of these Galamanders would have dwarfed
the purely promotional intentions of the Moline!)Just to move the granite stones often
required an eight horse hitch.Outfitted
with a rope tackle and large levered derrick, the granite could be hoisted up
below the vehicle and between the rear wheels.Horse teams were then able to transfer otherwise immovable tons of solid
granite blocks to the cutting yards and polishing mills.

Well over a century ago, these
Galamanders were a common sight in Vinalhaven.Crawling throughout the quarries, shipping port, and parts in between,
their beefy skeletal frames can seem like something straight out of science
fiction.Unfortunately, time, weather,
and inattention have destroyed almost all of these legendary leviathans.Today, the Vinalhaven Historical Society has
only one survivor on display.With a
granite mining history dating to the mid-1820’s, both Vinalhaven and the
Galamander stand as a testimony to a time when the legacy of America was driven
by dreams and carved in stone.

You'll want to stay in touch this year as we have a healthy lineup of great subjects to cover. So... If you haven’t signed up to
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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Throughout the late 1800’s and early
1900’s, wagon makers used a number of methods to successfully promote the
desirability of their products.Flashy
printed materials, household trinkets, custom dealer signage, and extraordinary
claims were sometimes joined with larger-than-life product demonstrations.

One such example occurred when the
Moline Wagon Company used imagery of a huge circus elephant riding in one of
their wagons (as did the Jackson Wagon Company) to showcase the strength and
light draft of their vehicles.In
similar fashion, legendary St. Louis maker, Luedinghaus, resorted to a massive tower of wagons to reinforce their superior craftsmanship during the 1904 World’s
Fair.Likewise, the Moline Wagon Company
also used another large, visual metaphor for strength… a colossal double-sized
wagon unveiled during the same event.

From April 30th through December 1st of
1904, the Moline Wagon Company leveraged their heritage for impressive quality
and performance by displaying this gigantic vehicle at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition (World’s Fair) in St. Louis.The primary purpose of the exhibit was to stop folks in their tracks
while creating a lasting, positive impression of the brand.Today, that same principle for successful
marketing still guides the most sophisticated and aggressive advertisers.

Weighing close to 5 tons, this
dominating force of wood and steel measured 42 feet in length (including the
tongue), 12 feet in overall width, and had 9 foot rear wheels.So impressive was this piece that the impact
made well over a century ago still has enthusiasts talking about it today.For generations, one of the most common
questions has been, “What happened to that set of wheels?”It’s a query we don’t have conclusive answers
for but we can supply some new information about the vehicle.A few months ago, we uncovered a rare and
previously unknown photo showing the same Moline being shown at a fair in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.It appears that
the St. Louis World’s Fair was just the first stop in a series of promotional
venues for this piece.It’s an important
part of the puzzle as the promotional tour may have ultimately left the vehicle far
beyond its original home in Illinois.

Next week, we’ll take a brief look at
another oversized vehicle we originally published in Volume One of our “Borrowed Time” book series.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

As we launch another new year, we
continue to be thankful for many things.Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness along with wonderful friends
and family are all great blessings. Likewise, we're fortunate to have so many successful explorations into America’s early heavy vehicle makers.

Last year, we were able to locate
and add a number of significant finds to the Wheels That Won The West®
Archives.Numerous original catalogs,
one-of-a-kind photos, company histories, ledgers, and other scarce literature
and ephemera from countless makers were punctuated by the discovery of
ultra-rare 19th century wagons from makers like Studebaker, Cooper, Schuttler,
and more.Why is this important?Because every piece identified and saved is a
part of American history.No longer
lost, this is the history that built our nation; History that opened the West,
conquered mountains, carried dreams, and continues to reflect a real spirit of enterprise,
opportunity, and freedom.

This year, our search for the rarest
wheeled history continues and, as with the past two decades, we look forward to
even more breakthroughs and the opportunity to share in those victories.

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About Me

The Wheels That Won The West® collection spans more than two centuries of horse drawn vehicle manufacture. It contains scarce imagery, specifications, correspondence, promotional literature & other all-but-forgotten historical details of the workings of America’s early western transportation industry. The subject is a huge and virtually untouched aspect of western study; rich with untold stories of personal, corporate & national dreams. Focusing on the heavier farm, freight, ranch, coach, business & military vehicles that built the western frontier of the U.S., our research and articles have been published by the American Chuck Wagon Association, National Stagecoach & Freight Wagon Association, Santa Fe Trail Association, The Carriage Journal, Farm Collector, Driving Digest & Wild West magazines as well as the Wheels That Won The West® website & numerous other traditional and on-line publications.
Complementing our commitment to research, publishing, entertainment & promotional projects, we are frequently called on for vehicle consulting, identification & authentication work. If you have a question about our products & services, please drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you.